Choosing a Location

If you choose to start in the USA, you get §180 each month to start the game, in addition to the Base Funding depending on your chosen difficulty level.

If you start in Africa, you actually get an extra 30% to Nigeria's funding and an extra 30% of the Base Funding thanks to the "All In" bonus; plus, you'll be getting an extra 30% from every other funding source as you expand satellite coverage.

Both are worthy options.

Bonuses: This depends on your play style and gameplan.

If you really want "Future Combat" and "We Have Ways" early in the game, put your base in Asia because it will only take 2 satellites to get S. America vs. 4 satellites if you start in S. America and expand to Asia.

Autopsies and interrogations don't take very long, so "We Have Ways" is probably the one clear-cut choice to not start your base, especially considering you only need 2 satellites to get it through the course of the game.

Panic: Face it, you can't respond to all 3 Abduction missions.

At some point, you're going to get stuck with covering a country with a satellite just to calm them down, whether it's early in the game to keep everyone happy or late in the game to prevent completing the "Doom Tracker".

You can try to keep an extra satellite and uplink slot available for such cases, though not utilizing such a vital resource also weighs on the mind.

Examples

This is a good option if you rely on a short-list of highly perked soldiers for combat.

The downside is you have to be careful not to waste precious resources on excessive Foundry projects that you may not use in combat very often.

Start in Africa for the "All In" Bonus (because it gives you extra credits no matter what play style or strategy you choose) and then spread to N. America for more credits or Asia for even cheaper deals on Foundry and OTS projects.

This is a good option if you don't have a particular strategy in mind, or if your strategy is to play it by ear and react to what the game gives you as you progress.

The downside is that you'll need a couple more satellites to get the other continent bonuses, which takes time, credits, and Uplinks to accomplish, all in the face of ever-increasing panic.